The Trump Card
by ColorOfAngels
Summary: I can't wait till I have grandchildren. "When I was younger, I had to walk to the rim of a crater. Uphill! In an EVA suit! On Mars ya little shit! You hear me? Mars!" -Mark Watney They've got good kids, they know it and are proud of it. But even good kids aren't perfect and sometimes Mark has to pull his trump card.


A/N So I was home sick on Halloween scrolling tumblr and that quote from the book was on my dash and this fic instantly popped into my head. So I wrote some fluff and fun to take my mind off the fact that I felt so shitty. It ended up longer than I was expecting but I don't expect anyone to complain about that. It takes place in the same universe as Do You Worst (For I Will Do Mine!) but you don't have to read that one for this one to make sense.

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 **I can't wait till I have grandchildren. "When I was younger, I had to walk to the rim of a crater. Uphill! In and EVA suit! On Mars ya little shit! You hear me? Mars!"**

 **-Mark Watney**

They had been home on Earth for almost three years before the subject of children was first broached. Surprisingly it was Mark, who had been a self-proclaimed lifelong bachelor before getting involved with them, that brought it up first. And perhaps even more surprisingly, he was the one who insisted that they be Chris's biologically. His reasoning was sound however, he didn't know what the long term radiation he was exposed to on Mars had done to the structure of his DNA, and he figured it would be better to play it safe lest Beth give birth to actual Martians.

And so eleven months later Whitney Marie Beck was born. She came into the world two and a half weeks early and just in time for the Ares 5 mission launch, which everybody agreed couldn't be more fitting. Sweet, smart and sassy, she was the perfect amalgamation of all three of her parents. They sometimes wondered if the fact that she had them all to herself for the fundamental first five years of her life had something to do with that. She was a natural leader and whip smart, sometimes her parents said, too smart for her own good. She vacillated wildly with what she wanted to do with her life, one day wanting to be an astronaut like her parents, the next wanting to be a geneticist and bring animals back from extinction (like Jurassic Park minus the man eating dinosaurs she told her mother seriously) and the next she was going to be president. Her parents had no doubts that whatever she eventually settled on, she would achieve and nothing would stand in her way.

Marcus James Beck, however, took after his mother through and through. A little shyer, he more reserved in new situations at least until he was comfortable. But if you could get MJ out of his shell and got him started on a topic he was interested in he would literally talk for hours. And boy did he have a sly streak a mile wide underneath that innocent exterior. Beth was already teaching him the basics of coding by the time he was in the third grade and Mark was teaching him how to build the computers themselves. Chris always joked they only they would have kid whose favorite birthday present was his very own soldering iron.

Johanna Rose arrived just two years after her older brother and favored her daddy in personality for all that she was a spitting image of her mother physically. Mark called her Bossy Beck Junior, or just Bebe for short. But she was also the nurturer of the family, she was the peacekeeper between her siblings and often the voice of reason with her more inherently cautious nature. She just wanted everyone to be safe and happy, even if that required her to tell them exactly how to do so.

It was Chris who felt they should stop at three kids, saying any more and they would be outnumbered and there was no good that would come from that. Beth and Mark agreed easily, with three kids under ten they had their hands full as it was and their family of six felt pretty complete.

And then came Eliza. Eliza Jane Beck was not exactly planned like her older siblings were. But Beth dared anyone call her a mistake, instead preferring to call her a surprise! After all, just because she wasn't expected didn't mean she wasn't very welcome. Little Eliza was the very definition of nurture in the nature versus nurture debate. She was a papa's girl from the moment Beth first handed her to Mark in the hospital. Cute as a button, out going and precocious as hell, she had a way of endearing herself to family, friends and even strangers in seconds

Chris, Beth and Mark all prided themselves on being good parents and although they had different parenting styles, they liked to think they were complementary styles, and they always provided a united front to their children. All the kids quickly learned that there was no playing one parent against the other, but they also learned how best to get what they wanted from each respective parent.

Chris was the strictest of the three, and laid down most of the laws in the house hold. But Whitney quickly learned, and passed the knowledge down to her younger brother and sisters that if you wanted something from Dad, you needed to present well thought out and logical reasoning. If you could sway him with a compelling argument he would usually give you what you wanted.

Beth tended to be the most easy going of the trio. She was a big proponent of kids needing to make/learn from their own mistakes. As long as it wasn't dangerous she gave the children a fairly long leash, she knew they were good kids and trusted them to make good decisions the majority of the time. The one thing all the kids quickly learned was that Mom did not tolerate lying. If you made a mistake or did something wrong and you were honest about it then she would help you fix it. If you didn't confess and she found out about it on her own, or if you flat out lied about it then you were in BIG trouble.

Mark fell somewhere in the middle, but there were two important lessons that Whitney had discovered about Pops that she imparted to her siblings. The first was that if you were in trouble with him, the fastest way to get out of trouble was to make him laugh. If you could get him laughing then you were already half way home free. The second was that Papa had a trump card that neither of their other parents had. And if he pulled that card then it was already over. No matter what he was telling you, you couldn't fight it. There was just no beating it.

It was the Mars Card.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Friday was leftover night in the Beck-Johanssen-Watney household. It was the way it had always been and probably wouldn't be changing any time in the future. By the end of the week none of the adults were usually in the mood to make something new so the remains of dinners from the rest of the week were reheated and put on the table and everybody took what they wanted.

Feeding seven people was always a bit of an exercise in organized chaos, even more so when everyone was eating something different, but experience taught them what everyone would gravitate towards which made it a little easier.

Chris and MJ would always claim dibs on anything Mexican which this week meant finishing off the fixings for fish tacos. Eliza was going through a picky phase where she only ate three things and one of those was chicken fingers, so she would have those. Whitney would always choose whatever pasta was available. Mark and Johanna had an affinity for comfort food and always went for the meatloaf. While Beth really just didn't care and would take the butternut squash soup.

"I don't want leftovers," Johanna pouted as yesterday's dinner made a reappearance in front of her.

"Why not? You love my meatloaf," Beth said ruffling her hair as she put a cup of milk down next to her middle daughter's plate.

Johanna just shrugged feeling petulant.

"Did you want spaghetti instead, Jojo?" Whitney offered, willing to trade dinners.

"No," she sulked, stabbing the corner of her dinner with her fork. "I like meatloaf better."

"Then what's the problem?" Chris asked as he made sure that at the very least a protein and a vegetable had at least made it to all the kids' plates before he fixed his own.

"But we just had it yeeeeeeeeesterdaaaaaaaaay," she whined as only a seven year old could.

"Yeah well, I didn't want to eat nothing potatoes, three meals a day for a year and a half, but sometimes we have to eat what's available, and be grateful that we have it," Mark interjected as he cut up Eliza's chicken fingers into bite size pieces. "Now eat your dinner Bebe."

Johanna sighed and did as Papa said, asking MJ if he would please pass the ketchup. Even at her age she knew she couldn't beat that.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Mark came home late from work one night to find his fourteen year old daughter laying on the landing her head handing over the top of the stairs. He had a lot of questions, mainly what and why?

"Hey Pops," she greeted as he walked through the front door.

"What are you doing home?" he asked first. "I thought you had that thing you were going to tonight, with the girls from your volleyball team."

She sighed heavily. "Mom grounded me," she admitted looking chagrined. "House arrest for the next two weeks."

"Do I want to know why?" he asked climbing the stars, taking a seat about three quarters of the way up so they were eye level.

"Probably not."

"Fair enough," Mark shrugged. If he actually needed to know he was sure Beth would tell him before they went to bed. A lot of debriefing happened during teeth brushing over the years. It was to be expected when you had three parents dealing with four kids. "She take your phone too?" he asked.

"How did you know?" she asked quirking her head.

"This is the first time I've seen you without it in your hand in years," he replied, one eyebrow raised knowingly.

Whitney rolled her eyes. She wasn't _that_ bad.

Mark smirked. She was _that_ bad. But it was okay she was a teenager it was to be expected. "So why are you laying in the middle of the landing? Somehow I don't think being confined to the stairs is part of your punishment."

"I dunno, just thinking about the futility of life, and wondering if it's actually possible to dematerialize from the sheer power of ultimate boredom. Just to melt into a puddle of bored goo."

"And that has to take place on the stairs why?"

"Because then I would ooze all the way down stairs, like a gooey slinky."

"Wow, A+ for melodramatics, but you lose a couple points for the visual," he said shaking his head. "Because that's just disturbing and messy. And I'm telling you right now I'm not cleaning that up."

Whitney giggled, as much as she wanted to pretend to be a dark and angsty teenager in the middle of an existential crisis she just didn't have it in her.

"And cheer up," he continued, picking up his messenger bag and standing. "If I can handle a year and a half of living alone on Mars without reverting to the primordial ooze, you can handle two weeks of being stuck in a house full of your family without your phone."

Whitney rolled her eyes again, at herself this time, she really should have seen that Mars Card coming.

"And make sure you don't actually hang upside down long enough that all the blood rushes to you head and you pass out and actually do go rolling down the stairs," he cautioned as he stepped over her to continue up the stairs. "I already told you I'm not cleaning that up."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Beth, Chris and Mark were snuggled up on the couch watching a movie, Eliza asleep on the floor with her stuffed rabbit in front of them, enjoying a rare afternoon where they were all actually home when they heard the front door slam.

"I HATE YOU!" they heard their only son shout before the sound of feet went charging upstairs.

The adults looked at each other for a moment. Beth extended her hands first, the boys quickly following suit.

"Rock. Paper. Scissors. Shoot!"

Mark's rock was quickly defeated by both Beth and Chris's paper. "Best two out of three?" he asked hopefully.

"Go!" Beth said playfully shoving him off the couch.

"Fiiiiiine," Mark whined as headed towards the stairs. "I guess I'll go parent and you two can just sit here and watch the end of the movie without me."

When he got to the top of the stairs he found Whitney standing outside her brother's room.

"MJ I said I was sorry," she called through the closed door.

"GO AWAY!"

"What happened?" Mark asked once he reached the landing.

His oldest daughter turned to face him, guilt clearly written all over her face. "Remember how MJ was jealous that Johanna got to go home from with a friend today after school, so I told him I would come pick him up from the elementary school on my way home from the high school and we could walk over to the comic book store and then go get ice cream before we walked home?"

"I remember," Mark confirmed. After all it was why they were all able to sit and enjoy a movie instead of doing school pick-ups.

"Well… I forgot," she grimaced.

"Oh Whit," Mark sighed, his hand coming up to scratch at the back of his neck.

"I know!" she wailed remorsefully. "I took a makeup test after school that I missed from when I had that dentist appointment last week and it wasn't until I was done that I remembered. I ran all the way to his school, but by the time I got there he had been waiting for almost an hour. I feel so bad Pops, I really didn't mean to forget," she said her eyes welling. "I wouldn't do that."

"I know you wouldn't," he said tucking her into his side for a one armed hug as he knocked on MJ's door.

"I SAID GO AWAY I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

"Hey bud, it's me," Mark said loud enough that MJ could hear him. "Can you open the door please?"

MJ didn't reply, but he could hear the rustling of blankets and then small feet heading his direction before the door opened, and he shuffled back to his bed. Mark followed him and sat down on the edge of the bed, reaching out to rub his son's hiccupping back.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"She left me!" MJ cried. "She forgot about me and abandoned me! I didn't think she was ever gonna come get me! She promised and she forgot!"

Mark looked up at Whitney who was standing anxiously in the doorway wringing her hands and then back down at his distraught nine year old. "You know it was an accident right bud? She would never break her promise on purpose. She loves you."

"I don't care I hate her," he sniffled.

"I don't think that's true," Mark countered still rubbing his back as he calmed down. Looking back up at the door he saw that Beth and Chris must have gotten curious as to what was happening and were now also standing in the hall behind Whitney. "You know Mom and Dad accidently forgot me on Mars once."

There was an exasperated noise from the doorway. "Really Mark?" Chris asked, but Mark just waved him away.

"Yeah I remember," MJ said quietly, finally turning his tear streaked face towards him.

"And I was sad, and scared, and lonely too," Mark continued.

"You were?" he asked. He couldn't imagine his big and strong Papa feeling the way he had felt today sitting outside his school.

"I was," he confirmed. "But you know what, Mom and Dad came back to get me just as soon as they could. Just like Whitney came and got you today."

"Yeah, I guess," MJ grumbled not quite ready to forgive and forget.

"And I forgave Mom and Dad because I love them," he looked up at the doorway to give them both a smile. "And because I know they love me, and I know that they never want me to feel the way I felt on Mars on purpose. It was just an accident. So do you think that maybe you could forgive Whitney because she loves you and would never want to hurt you purpose?"

MJ was quiet for a long moment as he thought it over before finally nodding slowly. Mark glanced over at the door and signaled for Whitney come over.

"I'm really sorry I forgot my promise," she apologized again.

"I'm sorry I said I hate you," MJ also apologized as well. "I don't hate you, I love you."

"I love you too squirt," Whitney said pulling her little brother into a hug.

Mark who had crossed the room to stand with Beth and Chris, waited until the sweet moment had passed and they started trying to tickle each other before speaking again. "Come on lets go decide where we're going to go for dinner tonight. And I'm sure Whitney wouldn't mind if MJ picked even though it's her turn."

Whitney nodded eagerly to show her agreement, while MJ mulled it over.

"Can we go to Dave & Busters?!" he asked excitedly, his sister also perking up at the suggestions.

"I suppose we could do that," Mark acquiesced after a quick glance at the others. "Go get in the car while we grab your sister."

Their two oldest went flying past their parents and ran down the stairs all earlier drama forgotten as the trio followed them at a more sedate pace.

"You such a good father," Beth said standing on her toes to give Mark a kiss. "You always know just what to say."

"That's the real reason you guys came back for me," he joked. "You knew you would need my superb parenting skills."

"Yeah, that's the only reason," Chris said his tone laced with sarcasm before he got a kiss in of his own.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Papa!" The distressed call of four year old Eliza sounded from the garage, where she and Chris had just come from day care/work respectively.

"Yes Liza my love?" Mark said looking up from the report for work he was reading as she came tearing through the house towards him.

"Today at day care, Katie S wouldn't let me Sweepin Beauty when we were pwaying pwincesses today," she said climbing into his lap.

"And why not?" he asked putting down his papers to give her his full attention.

"Because Sweepin Beauty has bwonde hair and I have bwown," she explained her lower lip wibbling.

Chris finally came in from the garage, groceries for dinner in his arms. "I told her she should be Belle who is better anyways because she's smart and likes to read. Aurora just sleeps for 100 years."

"But Daddy!" Eliza exclaimed shrilly, "I told you I want to be Sweepin Beauty because she wears PINK and pink is my favowite and Belle wears WELLOW and I don't wike wellow!"

Chris rolled his eyes behind their daughter's back and Mark had smother his grin. He had no doubts that the merits of Disney Princesses had been an ongoing debate the whole drive home.

"Papa," she turned her attention back to her other father. "Why can't I have bwonde hair like you so I can be Sweepin Beauty?"

Chris smirked at Mark, the look on his face telling him to _have fun with that one_ before heading into the kitchen to get started on dinner. But Mark was not about to try to explain genetics and the fact that technically he had no part in hers to his preschooler, so he took a different route completely.

"You don't want to be Sleeping Beauty anyways," he told her, a picture of seriousness.

"No, I'm pwetty sure I do," she replied just as solemnly.

"No, you don't, because why would you want to pretend to be a Disney princess when you're a princess in real life."

"Expwain," Eliza demanded, her little brow furrowed in confusion and curiosity.

"Well remember when I told you how Mommy and Daddy and Papa went to Mars?" he asked. "And how Papa lived there for a really long time."

Eliza nodded enthusiastically, it was her favorite story because her parents were the heroes.

"Well since I lived there longer than anyone had ever lived there before I ended up colonizing Mars."

"Cause of the 'tatoes," she interjected, wanting to prove that she listened.

"Yes, because of the potatoes," he agreed a wide smile on his face. "And since I colonized Mars that made me the King of Mars," he explained. Sure it didn't exactly work that way, but he still maintained that he was the Pirate King of Mars, his plaque on his office door at work even had it engraved underneath his name, and Eliza was four so that's what he was going with. "And if I'm you're my daughter and I'm the King of Mars, what does that make you?"

Whitney's eyes widened as the realization took hold. "A pwincess," she said in an awed whisper.

"That's right, you are the official Princess of Mars," Mark told her.

"That's way better that Sweepin Beauty."

"Yes, yes it is."

"I'm gonna go tell Daddy."

"You do that."

Whitney hopped off his lap and ran screaming into the kitchen "DADDY DADDY! I'M THE PWINCESS OF MAWS!"

Mark grinned to himself as he went back to his reports. Sometimes it was nice to use the power of the Mars Card for good instead of evil.

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A/N Soooo what did you all think? I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know or come over and say high on tumblr where I'm also Colorofangels :D


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